HOW TO HOLD YOUR STICKS

Grip and Technique Introduction.

The first thing to know with “technique” is that there are many
different hand techniques for many different applications, and there
isn’t one technique that rules all or one that is better than the
rest. At the end of the day there are many different ways to move
the stick in the hand and you can use different combinations of
fingers, wrist and arm to produce motions in different ways.Gripping The Stick.

You grip the stick
between the flat of the thumb and the first knuckle on the index
finger, 1/3rd of the way up from the back of the stick. 1/3rd of the
way from the back of the stick seems to be the perfect balance point
for most sticks, where you can obtain maximum rebound.

This grip between the
thumb and index finger is called the “fulcrum” and the fulcrum is
where the stick pivots in the hand grip when playing rebound and
other strokes. Always make sure the gap in the fulcrum from the
stick to the finger webbing is open. Never close this gap, otherwise
the stick won’t be able to pivot or move.

Make sure the
fulcrum is tight enough that the stick won’t fall out of the hand,
but not so tight that it restricts the stick movement.

From
there the back 3 fingers come around and cradle the stick, they’re
the “engine room” for finger strokes and other strokes. Quite often
the back 3 fingers moving together as one unit, contribute a large
amount in moving the stick.Matched Grip VS
Traditional Grip.

When both your hands are in the
wrist up position, you’re using Matched Grip. Traditional Grip is
where the left hand (for a right handed drummer) assumes an
underhand position. Here the back of the left stick sits in the
finger webbing between the thumb and index finger, and the middle of
the stick rests on the middle joint of the ring finger. The index
and middle finger then come over the top of the stick and work in
conjunction with a sideways wrist movement to produce the motion of
the stick.Traditional grip was invented
when marching drummers of the early 20th century played marching
drums on a 90 degree angle down to the right.

It didn’t make
sense to use matched grip because the left arm had to be raised so
high, so a more effective under hand grip took preference. This
became known as Traditional Grip. Since so many of the days marching
drummers taught the next generation of drumset players, or were also
drumset players themselves, trad grip became very popular with the
jazz drummers and got passed down from generation to generation
through all styles, including the modern rock styles of today.

You can see the lineage and continuation of trad grip when you
study the greats. Early masters like Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich used
trad grip, and modern day masters like Dave Weckl, Vinnie Colaiuta
and Virgil Donati also use trad grip.